Five dead in plant shooting

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MELROSE, Ill. – A disgruntled ex-employee killed four employees at a Chicago-area Navistar engine factory before killing himself on Feb. 5.

William Baker, aged 66, was due to begin a five-month jail term for his part in an engine theft scheme. He was charged in September 1999, with conspiracy to commit theft, along with five co-conspirators.

He then moved through the plant firing an AK-47 assault rifle, killing three people in the engineering area.

Entering another office, he killed one more person. He then shot himself.

Four others were injured in the rampage.

Navistar engineer Michael Kalagian fled when the shooting started.

He told reporters that he hadn’t seen Baker himself, but co-workers had told him the identity of the shooter.

“I just heard several, several gunshots,” said Kalagian.

The company has identified the dead as the gunman, Baker; Daniel Dorsch, 52, a lab supervisor; and Robert Wehrheim, 47, a lab technician.

The names of the other two victims are not being released at the request of their families. The plant is 15 miles from Chicago and employs about 1,400 people. n

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